The Autumn winds rushed through the treetops high above as Miya strolled through the forest. It was the time of year that firewood needed to be gathered in the large enough amounts to last throughout the entire winter. Without this precious resource of dry timber there would be no fire for the village. No fire means no cooking, no warmth inside homes, and was even necessary for purifying water or bandaging for first aid. Living in the middle of the mountain forest made it easy enough to find trees for cutting down but it still took time to cut them up and drag them down to the village.

All this has changed now that Miya had been gifted by the goddess with wondrous power. She was so strong now that she could single-handedly lift a fallen tree up over her shoulders and carry it all the way back to the village. This blessing of strength was something she was still finding new and life altering uses for. Everyday she prayed and thanked the great goddess for her generosity. In only one day enough logs could be carried off the mountain to keep a single house warm for the entire winter.

It wasn't always the case that the other residents of Doovlin saw Miya as different, but ever since the Goddess Jenna showed up the village girl was almost an outsider to her own people. As high priestesses she was the literal extension of the goddess. She was expected to have all the answers at any given time. Now that she was given this blessing not only were her responsibilities expanded but there was jealously brewing too. Why did she get such amazing power and no one else did? Worried thoughts about these things filled Miya's mind as she stood in the pine forest with the other woodcutters.

"Lookout below!" a man shouted.

There was a echoing crack as another massive pine tree began splintering apart at its base. It was at least eighty feet tall and its weight twisted the the axe cuts into a massive gash in an instant. In only seconds it was falling through the air with the rush of snapping branches. Then came the lumbering thud as it impacted the ground, the sound muffled by the soft peat and dirt of the forest. Several men were standing just out of the way with their tools ready to pounce on the newly fallen behemoth.

"Don't worry I got this one!" Miya said cheerily.

She ran along the log until she reached the middle and bent down, doing her best to wrap her arms around the rather thick trunk. The men all stood back as she began lifting it into the air with a grunt. With a slow and steady motion the entire tree was hefted off the ground and over one of the girl's shoulders.

Once the log was settled down Miya shouted out again. "Ok look out! I'm heading over to the camp!"

"Go on girl!" shouted one of the men.

There were some grumbles from the lumberjacks gathered around though most did cheer for her. Miya tried not to think about it too much. Being outperformed by a simple farmer's daughter surely negatively effected the egos of such strong men. They were used to being relied on by the villagers but now they were forced to rely on a young woman to do the heavy lifting. She wasn't trying to overshadow them or anything and she hoped it was understood she was only helping for their sake.

The logging camp was only a half mile away through the pines. Of course they wouldn't be dragging the massive trees very far before prepping them into smaller logs. Many of the men lived up here for the duration of fall firewood harvest and many lived here year round as permanent lumberjacks. It was a simple camp: there were several small log cabins, a large fire pit in the middle, and all kinds of equipment for the mutilation of fallen trees. The first step was removing the branches from the trees and the area where the logs were taken for that was off to the side of the camp.

Miya hefted the tree to readjust it on her shoulder and walked over to the open area where the de-branching was being done. As she approached a man with long brown hair and bushy beard called out to her. Out of respect she always addressed him as Mr. Denlen.

"Just put that one down over there Miya." Mr. Denlen said as she approached.

Miya walked over to an area of open ground and carefully bent down. She slid the tree off her shoulder and it fell with a ground vibrating thud into the dirt. She then stood up and took a deep breath.

Mr. Denlen stood up from his work and smiled at her. "We really can't thank you enough for helping us with all this work Miya. With you here we'll get firewood to spare for the winter!"

Miya let out a sigh and looked over at him. He was holding a large pair of shears for removing branches from the trees. He was dirty and covered in sweat, something she didn't have to worry about. Even though she had been carrying full trees all morning she hadn't even broken a sweat. Part of her worried if she ever would again.

"Thank you Mr. Denlen" she said smiling back. "Are there anymore logs ready to go back to the village? I was thinking of taking some down and then getting something to eat."

He nodded and pointed. "Of course! There's a few over there. If you want we can finish hitching them up and you can drag them down."

Miya nodded and walked with him over to a large pile of logs. There were half a dozen massive trees already cut into smaller lengths with all their branches removed. Of course even though they had been cut in half they were still close to twenty feet long or more. There were large chains laying around which were used to tie the prepped logs together to be dragged downhill by horses or manpower. For a super powered girl of course she could do it alone.

"Here help me get this hooked up." Mr. Denlen said.

"Of course" Miya replied. "I'm really starting to get the hang of this I think."

Mr. Denlen was easily tying the chains up around the logs due to his years of experience. He had worked for Jenson Timber & Logging most of his life. For her lack of experience Miya's raw power made up for her lack of skill manipulating the chains. She did have to be careful as she almost had broken a chain before.

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As they worked Mr. Denlen kept the small talk going. "You know with just you here we've managed to harvest as much wood in days as normally takes a month. I can only imagine how quickly it would go if that goddess was here."

Miya blushed. "Oh Mr. Denlen! You know the goddess has more important things to do than do all our logging for us!" She jokingly replied. "Also I'm just doing what anyone would do. Of course I'd help out with the firewood gathering. Its not like I'm that special. Anyone who was blessed by the goddess would have."

"I don't most people would though" He replied. "Getting such amazing power is akin to having magic. The average person would try to use it for their own personal gain." He smiled over at Miya. "You've always been helpful to those around you so even when given this blessing you try to use it for other's benefit. Even after a real goddess showed up and you were given favor by her you still remain down to earth. It would have been very easy for you to use your position as the goddess's favored to elevate yourself selfishly."

All this praise caused Miya to blush even deeper red. She quickly snapped the metal hook into the chain she was working on and covered her face in embarrassment. Her hips twisted to the side so she was facing away from Mr. Denlen.

"C-Come now! I should really just take these logs down to the village." She stammered trying to change the subject. "I'm sure Goddess Jenna will be pleased with all of our hard work."

Mr. Denlen laughed as he finished with the last hook on his chains. He then stepped aside as Miya picked up the heavy chains in front of the logs and hefted them over her shoulders."I'm sure she will. You take care of yourself down there Miya."

"I will" she replied.

Miya smiled as she pulled the heavy chains further over her shoulders. She had them wrapped around like rope. They connected by large dangerous hooks over the logs which allowed them to be tied up together and easily pulled along. She let out a small grunt as she leaned forward and put tension on the chains. Her first steps dug her feet into the dirt. Even though she was strong enough to pull the logs the soft earth made it difficult for her feet to find traction. It only took a few steps until she was able to begin making forward progress.

"Well see you in a while!" she said giving Mr. Denlen a final look.

"Take care on the way back." He replied.

The massive logs were tied up in a bundle of about five, more than even a team of horses could easily pull downhill. For Miya though it was almost easy, thought it did make her exert a bit of effort. As the bundle dragged along the ground it created a large trench in the soft ground, though there were a couple sleds on the front of them that helped minimize the digging up of the earth. There was of course a trail leading down to the village. Like most logging trails it was already patted down flat dirt, in part on purpose but mostly from the years of such logging sleds pressing down the dirt.

It took a couple hours even for Miya to get all the way down to Doovlin. The best lumber was taken from a fair distance up the mountain to ensure that there never was a single area damaged by over-logging. The lumber mill owned by Mr. Jenson was the final destination for the logs they were harvesting. There was a large facility there after all dedicated to making trees into useful things. The village was important enough to the operation of the lumber mill that its owners had no problem allowing it to be used for the production of firewood.

"Hey there Miya!" called one of the women near the edge of the village.

Miya lifted one of her arms and waved back. "Good morning!"

As Miya came out of the trees into the clearing around the village the first thing she did was look around for Jenna. The goddess wasn't hard to find assuming she was in the area. There weren't any earth shaking booms from her footsteps and from a cursory look around the treeline there weren't any signs of her. Miya prayed silently that her goddess was safe wherever she was at the moment. It was always so comforting to see Goddess Jenna towering over the trees, knowing she was on their side and looking out for them. She imagined that if one was the enemy of the goddess that the sight of her would be terrifying indeed.

Once the lumber mill was within sight Miya increased her speed knowing she was on the final leg of the journey. Some of the villagers stopped to watch the abnormal sight though most were used to seeing such things by now. As she approached she noticed an odd figure standing near the main building and watching her approach. Uldren Eldriege was standing with a group of men in the main yard. As the steward of the mill he was overseeing the arrival of all the new lumber.

Miya dragged the bundle of logs into the yard and into a blank spot for processing. She then dropped the chains on the ground and began undoing them. A pair of men ran over and began helping her. She thanked them and left them to take over the process from here on.

She then walked over to where Uldren was standing. "Hey Mr. Eldriege!"

Uldren smiled and looked up to her. He was currently holding a small inventory notebook and taking count of the new logs they were intaking. "Hello again young Miya. I see you've brought us another haul of trees. Its still quite a lot to adjust to. You're new strength and such." He rubbed his head with one of his hands.

Miya just giggled a little. "Its fine Mr. Eldriege. I'm still getting used to it still myself." She lowered her voice and stepped closer to him. "I wanted to ask who that man in the robe is. Are they a mage or something?"

Uldren looked over the robed figure and back at Miya. "Oh. He was just asking about you actually. Said his name was Heb and is a worshiper of Jenna. He seemed quite interested in your position as high priestesses and the power you've been granted."

This took Miya by surprise. It was common for people to ask about these sorts of things but normally it was people from the village that she knew. She had no memory of a Heb living in Doovlin, and if someone was coming to ask about the goddess there wouldn't be a reason to hide inside a cloak. Now that a real goddess had arrived the open worship of her was surely no longer taboo. Its not like she was a vengeful goddess or anything, all she's been is kind and helpful.

"I guess I'll go say hello" Miya said looking over at the hooded man.

Uldren just nodded and went back to his inventory check. "Very well young Miya. Just don't get involved if they seem dangerous. Its suspicious to wear a hooded cloak like that everywhere."

"Don't worry I won't" Miya replied.

The hooded figure was watching Miya as she started approaching. Whoever this Heb was quickly turned around and started walking away as she got closer. She had no idea why they would do that and she thought about calling out to them. Before that she turned around to look at Uldren again. By the time she looked back the figure had disappeared around back of the lumber mill. How did he vanish so quickly? Did they sprint away as soon as her back was turned?

Miya walked back over to Uldren. "Whoever he was he just left. Did you see where he went?"

Uldren looked up and shook his head. "No I didn't. Perhaps he had something important to go take care of. If he shows up again I can tell him where to find you, or just have him wait as I send for you."

"Probably the second option" Miya replied crossing her arms over her chest. "I'll be leaving back up to the lumber camp now alright?"

He nodded. "Alright then. Stay safe up there. Though for someone like you are now I suppose that isn't necessary. Still it doesn't hurt to be careful."

Miya nodded and gave him a smile with a wave. "You take care down here too!"

After the parting she started her journey back up the mountain. As she walked out of the lumber yard she looked around for this mysterious person but couldn't see them anywhere. Who in the world were they? What did they want with her and the goddess? It all seemed like such a backwards approach when the goddess was so open with her interactions with humans. For now though there was no use worrying about it as there was so much work to be done. The harvest was going to be starting soon and she'd be needed for that as well. If the man showed up again she'd deal with it as it happened. Perhaps she should tell the goddess about it too.